For me, this stage is about waiting. In the nursery that has slowly come togetherwith blankets and books and toys and furniture, time stands still. You look aroundthe room and see things, things, and kind of wonder what they’re all doing here.Why that blanket? Why that DVD? Why that Eeyore doll? No matter what theyare, right now they are all doing the same thing, waiting, so what is it about thosespecific things that earned them a home in this room? The answer is that they alloffer something new for Claire to discover. Same goes for me. At this moment I’m nodifferent from Eeyore. We’re all waiting to be discovered.

The first connection a baby has to the outside world is sound. With Claire growingbigger inside Nikol’s belly every day, she can’t see or speak or touch anything. Butshe can hear, and she can already discover things that way. By now, she’s alreadydiscovered “The Little Engine That Could” and Frank Ocean. When she’s ready tocome into the world, she’ll come into it having already discovered what English and a little bit of Spanish sounds like.

I don’t get to watch that discovery, but I’ll get to see all the ones after it. Blanketswill become colors and materials. Books will become stories. Stuffed animals willbecome friends. Before Claire understands what something is, she’ll understandwhat it represents. People will represent interaction and socialization. Family willrepresent close people. Mom and Dad will be the closest people. Labels won’t exist,only purpose. Function. For her.

The thought of watching her discover things is what excites me most at this point.Interest turns to curiosity turns to knowledge and understanding – what’s morebeautiful? There’s a whole world out there to discover, but it’s going to all start inhere, probably in this rocking chair surrounded by things hand-picked by friendsand family to help Claire understand the world. Again, that goes for me, too. I’m justanother thing until the day that Claire discovers me as Dad.

Right now, the nursery is filled with things. Claire will fill it with life.

So sweet! There is nothing like becoming a parent for the very first time! You will be growing and discovering right along with her, it's the best :)

Reply

Stephanie

4/12/2013 08:42:20 am

Not crying. Nope. Not crying one bit. :)

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Kim

4/12/2013 08:42:56 am

Claire has one special Daddy!

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Grampa Dave

4/12/2013 01:24:35 pm

Claire is surrounded in Love and by family who adore her. How lucky she is to have such a support group in family and dear friends all of whom are anxiously awaiting her arrival.

Enjoy the quiet of that nursery Ryan. Soon, it will be fill with the sights and sounds and yes, the aroma of Claire. Her very essence will fill that room and make everyone immediately aware of the essence of Claire Olive ZumMallen. There will be tears, tears of joy, expectation, promise and above all, unconditional Love, honor and respect!